MR. FLEISCHER: Good afternoon. The President began his day this
morning with the intelligence briefing, followed by a briefing from the
FBI. Then he met with the Administrator of NASA for 45 minutes in the
Oval Office. He is as we speak having lunch with the newly elected
members of the House of Representatives, Democrats and Republicans.
And then he will depart the White House to visit the National Institute
for Health, where he will tour the Vaccine Research Center and make
remarks.

The President's remarks, I submit, will have several pieces of news
in them. The President will talk about the importance of dedicating
resources for the next generation of countermeasures. He will talk
about the need to expand research and development in the production of
vaccines to fight bioterrorism, and he will talk about the promising
treatments available quickly for emergencies and getting those products
developed quickly, tested and in a position to be administered to
people quickly.

The President will return to the White House, and then -- a
scheduling change -- the meeting with the King of Bahrain will now
take place at 6:30 p.m., with dinner at 7:00 p.m.

And with that, I'm happy to take your questions.

Q Does the President agree with Colin Powell's op/ed piece
today, there is no smoking gun?

MR. FLEISCHER: The administration has always said that we have a
wide variety of reasons to know that Iraq possesses weapons of mass
destruction, particularly chemical and biological weapons. And of
course, the President agrees with what Colin Powell has written.

Q So he does agree that there isn't any one thing that --

MR. FLEISCHER: I think the reason that we know Saddam Hussein
possesses chemical and biological weapons is from a wide variety of
means. That's how we know.

Q On that issue, is the administration willing to join Great
Britain in seeking a U.N. resolution that would set a date certain for
complete Iraqi compliance?

MR. FLEISCHER: Well, as the President said Friday, standing with
Prime Minister Blair, a second resolution would be welcome so long as
it accomplishes the mission, and the mission is the disarmament of
Saddam Hussein. And so it remains something that the President has
expressed very clearly that under his authority in the Constitution as
Commander-in-Chief, and under 1441, he already has existing authority
to make the decision. But the President, of course, is in the process
of consultation with our allies, and you'll see a series of more
meetings, consultative process with our allies to determine precisely
what the next course of events should be.

Q Ari, can we come back to the shuttle. Can you give us an idea
of what Administrator O'Keefe said to the President? And also in
connection with the shuttle, the budget envisions an increase which
went to the printer before, obviously, the disaster -- envisions an
increase in the shuttle program by 23 percent. Is that the President's
way of saying that the shuttle program was underfunded before?

MR. FLEISCHER: One, on the funding issue, as you know, funding for
the NASA budget total will go from $15 billion in 2003 to $15.5 -- or
.469 -- million in Fiscal Year 2004. Funding for the space shuttle
itself will go from $3.2 billion to $3.9 billion under the budget, as
was proposed this morning, as was prepared prior to the disaster
involving the Columbia.

Having said that, I don't know that anybody can make any
conclusions about money at this point. The investigation is just
beginning. And as Sean O'Keefe said to the President, all causes will
be evaluated, all causes. It is vital; this country owes it to the
people who lost their lives, to the people who -- families left
behind, and to the astronauts who lie ready and waiting to go on their
next mission to explore every possible reason why this could have
happened. And I think it's impossible to make any judgments at this
point.

So those are the facts of the budget, but I think it's still too
soon to say anything.

Q Well, why the increase, Ari? What's the justification for the
shuttle program, in particular?

MR. FLEISCHER: Well, as Director Daniels walked through at his
briefing, there were a series of components inside NASA that involve
various aspects of the space shuttle, that all are going to receive the
funding designated. The funding for the last decade was relatively
flat; in fact, there was a decline over the last decade. And now there
is an increase in the funding. The funding for the international space
station, as you know, had run into a series of cost overruns; that has
been addressed, and the combined total leads to a budget of NASA that
is increasing.

But again, this administration is making no conclusions about
whether the funding over the last decade or the increase in funding has
anything to do with what took place on the Columbia. It would be
premature and unwise to make any judgments about that at this time.

Q Ari, the space shuttle program lost a quarter of its fleet on
Saturday morning. And if the space shuttle is the vehicle to be relied
on for at least the next decade to build the international space
station, if the President wants to continue the journey into space, is
he at all considering an appropriation to build another shuttle?

MR. FLEISCHER: Well, again, it's too soon to say. This just took
place. It's very important to work with Congress on this, as well, to
hear Congress's thoughts and opinions. It's too soon to say. But it's
fair to say, and as the President said in his meeting with Mr. O'Keefe,
the President is committed to the future of space exploration. He's
committed to the future of the men and women of NASA and the
international collaboration that has allowed mankind to explore space
to the degrees that we have and the degrees we continue to do so and
will do so.

Q Is it even possible to consider building another shuttle,
because the apparatus to manufacture the parts is, to a large degree,
been shut down?

MR. FLEISCHER: As I indicated, it's too soon to say.

Q Ari, is there a need or does the President think it's maybe
time to look at accelerating the search for another, a new generation
of space planes to replace the shuttle, given the age of the fleet?

MR. FLEISCHER: Well, again, I'm not going to, two days after the
explosion, leap to any conclusions for anybody in the government about
what the next steps should be. This has to be a review --

Q Is that something you think should be looked at?

MR. FLEISCHER: Well, I think, first, it's important to allow the
independent panel and the internal NASA panel to conduct their
investigations. Let's find out what the cause of the accident was
before reaching conclusions about what the next course in space
exploration should be. But the principal point that I want to
emphasize is the President is determined to continue mankind's
exploration of space.

Q Ari, one quick question on Korea, and then one on the
shuttle. On North Korea, was the President apprised of or involved in
the decision to send additional air power to the region so that you
could act as, I think what the Pentagon called, a prudent deterrent?

MR. FLEISCHER: As you know, as a matter of longstanding policy, I
just won't discuss military operations.

Q The Pentagon has described this military operation -- I'm
not asking -- the only thing I'm asking you to do is tell us whether
the President was apprised of it and considers this a necessary step
up. Because it certainly seems out of tone with what you've been
conveying to us here, which is this is a serious problem, but not one
that requires necessarily anything other than a diplomatic response.

MR. FLEISCHER: I think you can assume that there's -- what the
President has said to you is ongoing and valid, that the President
continues to believe that the matter with North Korea can be resolved
through diplomatic means, but that does not mean that the United States
will always have contingencies and make certain that the contingencies
are viable.

Q When he says that he's committed never to invade North Korea,
or he has no intention to invade North Korea, I think was his exact
words -- does the no intention and the use of the word "invade" as
opposed to attack as in a preemptive strike, are those conscious
choices?

MR. FLEISCHER: Again, when the President says that he believes
that this can be resolved through diplomacy, I think it expresses how
the President is approaching the solution to this matter. And this is
an international issue that North Korea has brought upon itself, and
the President is treating it as a matter of international diplomacy.
That's his approach.

Q One quick one on the shuttle. Has the -- did the President
express today to the NASA chief or to anybody else that he wants any
words of dissent about -- within the organization about whether --
what kind of damage might have been done to the orbiter, to be out
early, or are you content to let this sort of go on at the pace at
which it did during the Challenger?

MR. FLEISCHER: The President did not dictate the timing of the
investigation. That's for the investigators to determine and to make
known, as they are doing twice a day in their two news conferences, as
events warrant, as facts are developed. That's not a question for the
President to exercise any judgment about. He wants the independent
investigators to be the ones to make those determinations.

Let me fill you in a little bit on the meeting that the President
had. It lasted 45 minutes. Mr. O'Keefe began it by talking about the
families of those who lost their lives, the relatives and their
well-being now and the care that is being taken for them. The
President agreed that that has to be a priority, to make certain that
the families are taken care of. He reviewed the chronology -- Mr.
O'Keefe reviewed the chronology of events that immediately led up to
the disaster and he said that his intention is to get back into space
as soon as possible, with all safety issues having been fully --
fully -- explored. And he said that all causes are being evaluated.

The President inquired about the health and the status of the
families. He talked and inquired about the morale of NASA. He made
note that, amazingly, nobody -- we have received no reports of
anybody who was hurt by falling debris, in the entire field in which
the debris fell. And both the President and Mr. O'Keefe expressed
amazement at that. And obviously, that's one small positive piece of
news in this tragedy.

And the President talked about the status of the next crews and the
morale of the next crews -- crew -- and how they are ready to go as
soon as they are able to go back into space. The President inquired
about the children's experiment that was aboard the space shuttle. And
finally, the President said to the head of NASA, "You make us proud."

Q Ari, in the budget today, the charitable tax credits are $20
billion over 10 years, which is down from the original proposal of $90
billion. Can you explain that drop, and is that all the proposal needs
or is that a first installment?

MR. FLEISCHER: I'd have to take a look at the delta from last year
to this year, and I think that may have been something that Director
Daniels addressed in his briefing. The President remains committed to
making certain that all Americans have the right to have a charitable
deduction for their giving. Under changes that were made in 1986, only
taxpayers who itemized were able to receive an itemized deduction. The
President would like to extend that to more people. There was some
consideration in Congress last year about how open-ended to make that,
and so this is also an expression of wanting to work with Congress on
some of their concerns.

Q Looks like Hans Blix and maybe Mohamed ElBaradei will be going
back to Iraq next week. Is that something that you are worried that
will throw off your timetable as this week, the big presentation from
the Secretary of State? The last time they were there, there was this
big agreement and Iraq said that they were going to comply, and it kind
of helped shift the world opinion a little bit. Are you concerned
about the timing of this?

MR. FLEISCHER: No. Under 1441 is, of course, within the
prerogatives of the directors of UNMOVIC and IAEA to travel to Iraq for
the purpose of implementing the resolution. That is their prerogative
and the President wants to make certain that 1441 is enforced.

Q Can you tell us a little bit more about what's on the agenda
for the Bahrainian meeting this afternoon? And how concerned is the
President about growing public opinion elsewhere in the world that is
against any action against Iraq, particularly reaction in the Arab
world?

MR. FLEISCHER: Okay. One, in the meeting with Bahrain, the
President looks forward to the meeting. They're a very good ally of
the United States. And I think you can anticipate the topic of Iraq
will, of course, come up. I think they may also talk about peace in
the Middle East, which is something that the President and Prime
Minister Blair continue their conversations about. I think those,
broadly speaking, will be the two areas of conversation that arise.

As for public opinion, as you know, I've said this many times --
the President will be guided by what he thinks is necessary and right
to protect the people of our country, as well as the region, and our
allies in the region, as well. He's consulting very closely, as you
can see, with the leaders of many of these nations. And I think as you
started to see last week, something that we've been indicating to you
for quite some time is starting to manifest itself, and that is
expressions of support for various leaders around the world. And I
anticipate that that will continue.

And so this will remain, just as the President promised, a very
heavy consultative process. The diplomatic window remains a window in
which the President will fully engage, to reach out and enter into
discussions with our friends and allies. And I think he is having
quite a bit of success.

Q Ari, can you lay out for us some of the details of the
declassification process, who's in charge, where the effort is
centralized, to try to figure out what can be used by Secretary
Powell? And secondly, has the decision been made to use verbates of
communications intercepts of Iraqi officials?

MR. FLEISCHER: On the second part of your question, I'm not going
to indicate exactly what will be said. That will be for Secretary
Powell to do Wednesday up in --

Q Can you say whether or not the decision has been made to use
--

MR. FLEISCHER: I'm not going to get into that. These will be
things that the Secretary himself will reveal and that will be your
indication. But the process has been a week-long, a little bit longer
than that, interagency collaboration that involves the CIA, the NSC,
the State Department, DOD, to review the raw material, the information
that is known, with the eye toward how much can be made public so that
the people of the United States and people around the world can have as
much information as is possible about why we feel so strongly and know
that Iraq has biological and chemical weapons, balanced against the
need to protect the sources of this information so that we do not, one,
lead to anybody getting killed in Iraq as a result of this, or the
source of this information drying up in the future. So it's a very
important series of judgments that get made to each piece of data to
determine whether or not they can or can not be made public.

Q A little thing for you -- the President often articulates
principles on legislation or on any sort of effort to lay down the law,
if you will. With regard to a second resolution, does the President
have one or two particular principles that would need to be met for a
second resolution to get his support?

MR. FLEISCHER: Well, it's exactly what he said Friday with Tony
Blair.

Q Just as long as it gets done quickly, he doesn't care what the
content is?

MR. FLEISCHER: So long as it leads to the disarmament of Saddam
Hussein.

Q Ari, back on the -- on NASA's funding, it sounds like you
all are leaving the door open to an increase in funding for NASA. Not
that you are committing yourself to it, but once --

MR. FLEISCHER: Well, the President is proposing one in the budget
that he sends up today.

Q It sounds as though you're opening up the door, or at least
leaving the door open to the possibility of even more money being sent
to NASA after the investigation is done, and if it concludes and you
all agree that that is something that's needed?

MR. FLEISCHER: Well, Jean, when I indicated at the top -- and
today is the day the budget gets sent to the Congress. The process
begins today in terms of where the decisions get made in the Congress.
And it's important to listen to and work with members of Congress on
this, and in all areas of the budget. As I indicated at the top, I
don't think anybody can reach any conclusions about funding levels and
the disaster affecting the Colombia. Everything needs to be looked
into in order to make determinations, but no one can make any
conclusions this quickly after the disaster.

So, as always, the budget goes up, we'll work with members of
Congress on it, but the amount that's in the budget is the amount the
President thought was necessary. Clearly, now a disaster has taken
place, and as the process unfolds it's a healthy process, it's a
flexible process and it allows for additional input as events warrant.

Q So you're not ruling out the idea that the President would
support an increase in funding later if, in fact, an investigation and
you all agreed that that was necessary?

MR. FLEISCHER: No, I'm not addressing it because I think within 48
hours of the disaster is just too soon to address.

Q Ari, ever since the President announced Secretary Powell's
U.N. appearance in the State of the Union address, there's been a great
deal of expectation around that appearance. Was his statement in
today's op/ed piece that there is no smoking gun an attempt to lower
those expectations?

MR. FLEISCHER: I think people will form their judgments, having
watched the Secretary, and people will come to their conclusions about
it. I think it will be compelling, but I think that these will be
judgments that people make, and that is exactly why the President wants
this done in public. The President wants this information shared
publicly so that individual Americans can exercise their own right to
tune in and make their evaluations as citizens of our democracy about
what it is that the government knows. In the event that the President
decides to use force, he thinks it is vital that the American people
have as great an understanding of the reasons why as possible.

Q Should we take the Secretary's piece today as, in effect, a
summary of what he's going to say tomorrow?

MR. FLEISCHER: I think it's obviously a good guide to what he is
going to say Wednesday.

Q Ari, two questions for you. When the President met today with
the NASA Administrator, Sean O'Keefe, did they discuss the program that
will take place tomorrow in Houston, what the participation the
President and First Lady will be, will they meet with the families of
the victims?

MR. FLEISCHER: They did talk about that very briefly. And the
program is still being worked through at the staff level, but they did
talk about that briefly.

Q Will the President attempt to try to meet with the families of
the victims?

MR. FLEISCHER: We'll have all the details of the program as it's
final. But, yes, the President will, of course, spend time with the
families.

Q Second question, the President must have been receiving a lot
of condolence calls from leaders around the world. I imagine he's
taken some and some he hasn't had the time. Can you tell us some of
the calls he has received, especially lately?

MR. FLEISCHER: Well, over the weekend, we released to you the
names of the eight foreign leaders with whom he spoke, so that's a
matter of record. I don't know if I brought all eight with me. I know
that yesterday he spoke with President's Musharraf and Vajpayee. He's
spoken with President Putin. I don't want to go down all the list
because I may forget one person or two people. You can take a look at
all the information that was released over the course of the weekend;
we can provide that to you.

Q Has he taken any calls today?

MR. FLEISCHER: No, he's not, not today.

Q You and others in the administration today said that 48 hours
is too soon and that there's suggestion that there's too much
discussion as of right now about money. But over the weekend, there
were some people, specifically yesterday, on the talk shows, there were
members of Congress who did complain about NASA funding. I wonder if
you would comment on the fact that some people have suggested that
there just hasn't been enough money in the program up to this point.

MR. FLEISCHER: I think the President respects the opinions of
people who are going to take a look at this and you will likely here a
variety of different opinions about it. And the nation has just gone
through a tragedy. And in the President's judgment, after a tragedy
like this, what's most important is that everybody join together in
making certain that we know what happened and why, that no stone be
left unturned; and once the cause is determined, that we all, together
as Americans, look at what needs to be done next, and do so in a spirit
that's marked by the same spirit that NASA has, which is a spirit of
working together to get a mission accomplished.

The mission to be accomplished, in this case, is to resume space
flight and to continue the marvels of space exploration that have been
the hallmark of American pioneerism around the world, particularly the
international collaboration that has marked space flight and space
travel today.

Q Ari, since some of the criticism has actually come from
Republicans, as well, has the White House made an effort to reach out
to members of its own party to just ask that people hold their tongue
on this issue for the time-being?

MR. FLEISCHER: No, as I indicated, members of Congress are free to
express their opinions, and the President values all of them. That is
a part of our process.

Q Ari, as far as seven astronauts are concerned, prayers were
heard throughout India and also here in the United States, throughout
all the Hindu temples, including one in Maryland. Ambassador Lalit
Mansingh he delivered the message for condolence and he said that India
had lost one of her daughters, Ms. Kalpana Chawla. My question is,
when the President spoke with Prime Minister Vajpayee, what they spoke,
what they said, as far as -- because since India lost one.

MR. FLEISCHER: I reported this last night. When the two spoke,
they expressed mutual condolences because of the losses. And the
Indian astronaut, of course, a hero in India. She was born in India
and became an American citizen, and was an example and a roll model to
millions in both countries, particularly women. And that summarizes
the message.

Q Ari, on the astronauts memorial in Titusville, Florida, the
name of Colonel Ilan Ramon of Israel will presumably be included with
the other six from the Columbia. And my question: Is the President
grateful that in 1981 this officer, as an F-16 pilot, helped demolish
Saddam Hussein's nuclear plant at Osirak, near Baghdad?

MR. FLEISCHER: I think that many people expressed, after 1991,
when the United States realized that, contrary to the intelligence
information suggesting that Iraq was years away from the development of
a nuclear weapon, they actually were only six months away. Had that
mission not taken place at that time, the military mission in 1991
would have been made far, far more difficult. I just leave that as a
statement of fact.

Q Ari, page one of this morning's Washington Times reports the
acute discomforture of Democrat presidential candidates about how to
observe the NAACP boycott of the entire state of South Carolina. And
my question is, while I know it's tempting for you to enjoy this
Democrat problem, doesn't the President really believe the NAACP would
be far more valuable in working to end the slavery of blacks in Sudan
and Mauritania today than in conducting an attempted censorship of a
flag that is entirely historic and under which fought hundreds of
combat Confederate soldiers who were black?

MR. FLEISCHER: Lester, the President does not see it as his job to
suggest policies to private organizations about how they conduct their
business in that sense.

Q He suggests to lots of private organizations. Ari, he
suggests to all of us --

MR. FLEISCHER: You, Lester, are not a private organization. There
is only one of you. (Laughter.)

Q Before the disaster of the Columbia, the President increased
the funding for the shuttle in his budget. What was he thinking in
terms of his goals and priorities for the shuttle program when he put
that increase in?

MR. FLEISCHER: It's a belief in the importance of the space
shuttle mission and the importance of continuing to pursue scientific
research and exploration in space. That's why the budgets the
President has submitted reflected that.

Q But were there specific line-items for specific areas of the
shuttle program?

MR. FLEISCHER: Yes, there were, and Director Daniels, I think,
briefed those at his 11:00 a.m. briefing. And those are also available
from NASA. Now the budget is coming out. You will have that actually
in writing, as well. So you'll be able to see several of those
line-items in the budget.

Q What did you find out about the Don Nelson contact with the
White House?

MR. FLEISCHER: It appears that that letter was dealt with at the
staff level.

Q How high up did it go?

MR. FLEISCHER: To Mr. Marburger.

Q And never conveyed to the President?

MR. FLEISCHER: No, as you -- the letter came in, was referred to
Mr. Marburger. Mr. Marburger -- as you know, his staff received the
technical briefing from NASA. and Mr. Marburger responded on behalf of
the President. Dr. Marburger, I should say.

Q Ari, last week the President said, on Iraq, you are either
with us or you are with the enemy. France and Germany are clearly not
with us. Why aren't they with the enemy?

MR. FLEISCHER: That's not true. France and Germany are with us.
They just, in the case of Germany, made a decision not to use military
force; and in the case of France, I think France is still exploring
what their ultimate position will be. But clearly, they're both with
us. The question is the use of military force. So I don't think
that's quite doing justice to what the President said.

Q The President has repeatedly said he wants to bring democracy
to Iraq. But here in the District of Columbia, citizens have no
elected representatives in Congress. On the license plate, there is a
permanent protest. It says "taxation without representation." What is
the President doing to bring democracy to the District of Columbia?

MR. FLEISCHER: Per the Constitution, the District of Columbia is a
unique entity and the President has expressed no desire to change the
representation that the District of Columbia was given by the framers.
And I don't really think you can equate the District of Columbia being
a democracy with Iraq's failure to be a democracy, and it's, in fact,
of course, a totalitarian state.

Q In the discussions with O'Keefe, was there any time frame set
out for resuming the shuttle flights or when you have to resume it to
take care of the people up there? And also, did you get a date for
when Bush last visited Johnson Space Center?

MR. FLEISCHER: On the first question, no, there is no discussion
of dates. It was, as I indicated earlier, as soon as possible,
pursuant to every aspect of safety being reviewed. That's where it
stands. On the second, I'm still working on that and I'll have,
hopefully, more to indicate.

Q Ari, you said the President will be discussing the Middle East
with the Emir tonight and has discussed with Prime Minister Blair. Can
you tell me what he's saying? It seems like the initiative, given the
Israeli incursions in the Gaza and the operation in Hebron --

MR. FLEISCHER: All it means is the President continues --

Q -- U.S. is not playing a proactive role.

MR. FLEISCHER: The President in these meetings reiterates the
important need to focus on the peace process in the Middle East and the
bringing together of the Palestinian Authority through reform, and new
leaders of the Palestinian Authority with Israel. Particularly now
that the election of Israel has come and gone, the President wants to
renew the focus on how to promote peace between the Israelis and the
Palestinians. And that's an area where many of the Arab states, as you
know, are heavily invested. The President has spared no effort to work
directly with many of the Arab leaders in the region to help bring
about the process toward peace.

Q Secondly, Ari, there are reports that the United States is
interested in setting up military bases, or using military bases in
Poland with possible eye toward operations against Iraq and maybe even
transferring forces from Germany. Is there now a shift and a greater
interest in Poland? Given all the diplomacy with the Polish Prime
Minister this week, Polish President --

MR. FLEISCHER: You need to talk to DOD about anything involving
bases.

Q On two unrelated questions, can you just tell us who was in
the room in the O'Keefe meeting this morning?

MR. FLEISCHER: It was the usual White House senior staff: the
Vice President was there; Andy Card was there; a number of senior
administration officials were there; Brian Montgomery was there and his
business as Cabinet Secretary.

Q Was Mitch Daniels there?

MR. FLEISCHER: No, I think Mitch was briefing the press at that
time.

Q How about Marburger?

MR. FLEISCHER: I don't recall.

Q Okay, and going back to something from last week -- can you
describe how the President, in coming forward and offering the idea of
exile to Saddam Hussein, squares that in his mind with his concern
about him being the epitome of evil, human rights violations, and his
desire to bring him to justice?

MR. FLEISCHER: Well, as the President said, that if Saddam Hussein
were to leave Iraq and to take, as the President put it, his henchmen
with him, that would be a very desirable event. That would save the
lives of many. It would improve the lives and the fortunes of the
Iraqi people and give them, for the first time in decades, the freedoms
that they are entitled to. And the President views that, if it were to
happen -- and the President holds no high hopes that it would happen
-- but the President, of course, and I think people around the world
would welcome that event, no matter how evil Saddam Hussein is. The
source of his evil comes first from himself, and second from his
ability to manipulate the levers of power, and to do so in a tyrannical
way, against not only his own people, but the neighbors in the region,
and hence, his threat to peace. Certainly, if Saddam Hussein no longer
has his fingers on the levers which weapons of mass destruction could
be launched, the world would be a safer place.

Q So if Saddam Hussein were to forfeit his control over Iraq and
seek exile, he could save his life and he could avoid any kind of
international judicial experience, being brought to justice.

MR. FLEISCHER: Again, I think the world would rejoice if he left,
and let's leave it at that and let's hope he leaves.

Q Ari, the government of Chancellor Schroeder had two bad
defeats in the election yesterday. The Christian Democrats, who did
quite well, who have been quite supportive of the United States, and
their leader says that they hope the United States will take those
elections results as a message from Germany. Do we, and what do we
read in to them?

MR. FLEISCHER: It's an internal German matter and I don't have any
comment on it.

Q The South Korean government has announced a hotline has been
set up between Seoul and Washington. What is the purpose of that
hotline?

MR. FLEISCHER: I cannot speak to that. I know that there are many
methods of communication, of course, picking up the phone with South
Korea. So I'm not aware of any specific report about a hotline.

Q Ari, on Iraq. When the President said, weeks, not months,
he's thinking about maximum a month is four weeks, when he mentioned
that? And second question, do you trust the government of Mexico to
guarantee for the United States that no terrorists are going to enter
by the Mexican border of this country?

MR. FLEISCHER: I'm sorry, I didn't follow the second part of your
question.

Q If you really trust the Mexican government to have the
guarantees to cover the border, to protect that from the entry of
terrorist groups to the United States.

MR. FLEISCHER: There's no question that the conversations with
Mexican authorities have been very productive and helpful. Mexico, of
course, stands shoulder to shoulder with the United States in fighting
terrorism. It's a very long border, however, and that's why concerns
remain anywhere on any of America's borders for people coming into the
United States. And that's why we're constantly working to upgrade and
to be as diligent as possible to prevent terrorists from coming in, no
matter what the source or what the border.

Q Ari, have you heard the President talk at all about the
situation in the Ivory Coast? You've got crowds of people marching to
the U.S. embassy and pleading for the United States to intervene and
stop the imposition of a peace deal arranged by President Chirac of
France. Has he talked about this at all? I know you issued a
statement, but it's an interesting situation to see crowds of people
chanting, "USA, help us, save us," when France was supposed to have
arranged the deal.

MR. FLEISCHER: Let me begin by saying that the United States
applauds the efforts of President Chirac to move all parties toward a
peaceful resolution. We hope that there will be flexibility in the
implementation of the framework. And I have not personally spoken to
the President about the scenes, but I think those scenes are a reminder
of America as a beacon of hope and freedom around the world. And I
think that's why, sometimes, when you hear some of the current
discussion, the amount of affection for America around the world often
gets understated.

And I think it is a reminder.

And I think when you take a look at many of the statements about
America's standing in the world, and you look at America's college
campuses, where students from throughout the world come for the
opportunities and the ability to study in America, it's always worth
stopping and remembering that we remain, and still are, and will always
be that beacon of hope and freedom and opportunity around the world.

Q Does it say anything about France's standing in the world?

MR. FLEISCHER: Again, I began my statement with an expression of
support President Chirac. It's a very difficult situation.

Q Mohamed ElBaradei has said that he may bring the issue of
North Korea to the United Nations Security Council. Would the U.S.
support the idea of sanctions on Pyongyang, considering what Kim said,
that sanctions would be seen as a declaration of war?

MR. FLEISCHER: One, as I indicated last week, the United States
does support the IAEA's call to bring the matter of North Korea's
failure to comply with their international obligations to the United
Nations Security Council. I'm not going to predict the outcome of what
it may or may not be in the end, or how many steps this will take. But
suffice it to say that just because a nation makes a threat about
whether or not sanctions is appropriate or not appropriate, the world
body, the United Nations Security Council and the United States
included, will act in what it deems is the right course to take, given
the fact that North Korea is violating its obligations to the world.
Now, these events will develop, but I want to lay down that predicate.

Q Part of the question is there -- do we oppose sanctions, or
are we in favor of --

MR. FLEISCHER: We will continue to pursue this in an international
manner, in consultation with our friends and allies. And this will be
headed to the United Nations Security Council in all likelihood, and
we'll see what the ultimate course is at this time and any courses to
follow.

Q Should Americans and allies be prepared for a greater loss of
life in an Iraq conflict this time as compared with 1991, when the
objective was simply to push Iraq out of Kuwait?

MR. FLEISCHER: One, I want to remind you the President has not
made any decisions about the use of force, and the President continues
to hope that that will not be a line that gets crossed.

Q Is that a factor in his decision-making?

MR. FLEISCHER: Well, the factor in the President's decision-making
as to whether Saddam Hussein is disarmed or not. That is the factor.
Beyond that, I think it's impossible for anybody to make any
predictions. The United States is very, very, very capable, and beyond
that, I just will not make any predictions.

Q Just following John's point on North Korea here, I'm trying to
understand how we should interpret this decision to send new aircraft
and the personnel around them. Should we interpret it as equivalent to
what you're doing in Iraq, where you frequently said that the presence
of American troops nearby helps increase the diplomatic pressure for
them to fully comply -- in North Korea's case, that would mean
allowing inspectors back in and doing all those things you've asked
them to do -- or should we instead interpret it as a concern on the
part of the President that North Korea could lash out at some moment
because of sanctions, because of anything else?

MR. FLEISCHER: I think you should interpret it exactly as I said
earlier, that the President thinks that this can be handled through
diplomatic means, that we have contingencies all around the world and
we always make certain that our contingencies are viable.

Q You have 37,000 troops there already.

MR. FLEISCHER: We have contingencies around the world that involve
a number of uses of force structure to make certain that the
contingencies are viable.

Q Ari, a domestic question. This is Black History Month. The
President has put out a proclamation talking about Black History
Month. How important is the black vote in the midst of time a of a lot
of racial controversy, the fact the President did not erase anything
about race in the State of the Union address, and the fact that many
African Americans will be fighting this war if there is a war in Iraq?

MR. FLEISCHER: I think that the President views this, number one,
as a question not of votes, but about doing the right thing for all
Americans. And that's how the President approaches his job. He
doesn't sit in the Oval Office calculating the number of votes that a
different decision may or may not get him. He sits in the Oval Office
weighing the policies and their impacts on all of us together as one
community. The President is sensitive to the needs of the various
constituencies that make up America's community. But the President
adopts -- believes that the best way to approach future elections is
to focus on policy decisions today.